During peak hours, Uber, Ola, Rapido and inDrive will charge up to twice the base fare, up from the previous cap of 1.5 times.
The government has revised guidelines for these ride-hailing platforms.
As per the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, on Tuesday, at least 50% of the base fare is required for non-peak hour fares.
On cancellation of a booking by a driver after accepting a journey on the app, a penalty of 10% of the fare, with a cap of Rs 100, will be imposed when the ride is cancelled without a specified reason. Such a penalty will be split between the driver and the aggregator. Similarly, when a passenger cancels a booking on the app, a similar fee will be collected.
States have been advised to adopt the revised guidelines within three months. The idea is to ensure that consumers are not burdened during periods of surge in traffic, while ensuring that aggregators do not undercut competition by offering steep discounts.
Aggregators have been mandated to ensure that drivers have health and term insurance of at least Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, respectively.
The new guidelines specify that state governments will notify the base fare for different categories of vehicles, including auto-rickshaws and bike taxis, which have been brought under the ambit of the policy.
For example, while the base fare for a taxi in Delhi and Mumbai are in the range of Rs 20-21 a km, in Pune it is Rs 18. In cases where the states have not fixed the base fare, aggregators have been asked to notify the base fare to the government.
The guidelines specify that no passenger will be charged for dead mileage, except when the distance for availing the ride is less than 3 km. Fare will be charged only from the point of origin of the journey to the destination.
For the safety of passengers, the Centre has specified that the aggregator must ensure vehicle location and tracking devices (VLTDs) are installed in vehicles and the feed is received by it as well as linked to the integrated command and control centre of the state government. The aggregators will also conduct an annual refresher training.
The guidelines also specified that drivers whose rating falls below five percentile among all drivers in terms of duration of engagement with the aggregator will compulsorily undergo refresher training every quarter. If such drivers fail to do so, they won't be allowed to continue through the aggregator.
